Chapter 3

Spyro was dreaming once again. He was in the sky with Cynder, with an expansive field of grass below them. The wind blew over the field, causing the grass to sway back and forth like the waves of an ocean. A mountain rose up in front of them, surrounded by an evergreen forest. Snow capped the top of the mountain, and the coolness of the air created a feeling of peace within him. Spyro turned his head to Cynder.

"I love you." He said aloud. She smiled back at him.

"I love you too, Spyro." She responded without hesitation.

They glided over the grassy field, enjoying each others presence.

Spyro turned his face to look in front of him, when something odd captured his attention. He could see what appeared to be a flame in the distance. Peering at the flame, it flickered gently, like a candle in a dark room. Spyro felt himself relax at the sight, despite it being out of place, and his muscles grew free from all tension, himself enjoying the warming feeling it gave him. Once again, he turned his head to Cynder.

"Do you see that?" he asked her. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Strangely, she didn't respond. Instead, she continued to look in front of herself, seemingly ignoring him. Her sapphire eyes were devoid of any recognition to Spyro. He called her name again, wondering why she didn't answer.

"Cynder?"

Spyro turned his head to face frontward again, when the flame suddenly expanded. Spyro flinched as the firelight was so great, it hurt his eyes to look at it as it suddenly rose miles high. Despite its light boring into his eyes, he could not tear his gaze away from the sight despite his eyes hurting, and the fire whooshed to even greater size, increasing tenfold until an entire wall of fire was in front of him. The gently flicker was replaced with a roaring inferno. To his horror, the mountain suddenly blew its top, and lava rained down the sides. The evergreen forest was destroyed in seconds by the rapidly increasing pool of lava and brimstone. The wall of fire grew even more, almost rising taller than the mountain itself until it engulfed his entire vision. Spyro watched as the fire spread to the field underneath him, incinerating the grass and completely engulfing it in a matter of only a few moments. Spyro, yelled out in panic, and turned his head to Cynder. He was baffled that she looked just like she did before, completely normal, her face free of any emotion. She was completely unaware of what was going on.

"Cynder!"

To his horror, everything around them faded away, until a murky onyx cloud encased the environment around them, absolutely pitch black. As quickly as the fire expanded, it became no longer visible and faded away, sinking with everything else into the endless void that now surrounded them. Spyro watched in horror as Cynder melted away like wax on a candle, her bodily form dripping down into the abyss of darkness below. Spyro cried out in anguish and horror. A tear formed in his eye, when he heard a voice. It entered his brain unlike any presence he had experienced. Its icy cold breath covered his being, possesing his thoughts. The voice was soothing, comforting, and almost sympathetic.

"Sleep Spyro. Sleep…"

Spyro for some, strange reason, suddenly felt the urge to close his eyes. He fought it, but he felt himself begin to lose the battle as his body cried out for sleep, for rest. The unknown voice captured his mind, sucking the will from him like a vacuum. For some reason, he wanted to give into the invitation, to rest away his troubles…

The voice invited him again. "Go on, Spyro. Sleep…sleep…"

Spyro continued to resist the voice, but his longing for comfort at Cynder's disappearance was impossible to ignore. He felt himself begin to close his eyes, longing for rest from his troubles, and the darkness seeming to invite him into its endless embrace…

No! He could not abandon Cynder! He could not leave those that he loved to the horror of what he had just witnessed!

"No, Spyro. Sleep! Give into it! Laze away your troubles. You've had so much hardship, so much anguish. Relax, abandon your troubles, sleep…"

His body wilted, and his mind stopped fighting. Spyro gave in. He closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness around him…

Spyro began to fall down asleep in midair. Wind whistled over his body as he sank into the abyss. It seemed as if Spyros' will itself had faded away. All he wanted was to rest, to sleep. Nothing in life seemed to matter anymore. He once again heard the soothing voice, seeming to invade his being entirely, enveloping him in a mist of soothing words. Spyros' entire being was now devoted to the mysterious voice, longing to hear its comfort in the endless blackness…

"Yes, Spyro… sleep, just, like my father!"

A pair of purple jaws cut through the darkness, filled with razor sharp teeth. Spyros' eyes opened briefly, to gaze into the gullet of the creature from which the voice originated. The jaws clamped down onto Spyros' prone form, and his blood spilled down into the abyss, becoming lost in the darkness.

"Raagh!"

Spyro screamed out in terror, still living his nightmare in reality. He jerked forward into a sitting position, throwing the sheets off of him. He was breathing heavily, and he felt his heart beat wildly in his chest. His eyes were wide open, seeking out any danger that might befall him, paranoid by the nightmare he had just witnessed, expecting to fall asleep, only to have the same jaws clamp down on his body as he slept, killing him.

It took some time for Spyro to calm down, and realize that it was only a nightmare. His heartbeat slowed, and his breathing became more calm. His eyes drooped slightly. Spyro shook his head roughly, trying to shake his paranoia away from him. "Get a grip, Spyro! It was only a dream, just a dream. Everything is fine now, there's no need to be worried about what just occurred." He thought, trying to comfort himself. Turning his head, he saw Cynder, still sleeping peacefully, unaware of Spyros' predicament. Spyro exhaled a sigh of relief.

Spyro heard a knock on the door of their dormitory. Tensing his neck muscles to brace himself for possible danger, he answered in a low whisper.

"Come in." His brow furrowed as he wondered who could possibly knock on the door this late at night.

To his surprise, Terrador opened the door, a look of worry and confusion written clearly on his face. Cynder groaned as she was awakened by the light from the hallway seeping into the room, coming to rest on her face. She rolled over, opening her eyes.

"Spyro? What's going on?" said a grumpy Cynder. She rubbed at her eyes, the light glaring into her pupils. Spyro smirked slightly. He found it ironic that his scream hadn't awakened her, but Terrador did by merely opening the door. Spyros' mind ceased from wandering and his attention turned to Terrador as he spoke in an urgent tone.

"Get up, you two. There's something that both of you need to see."

Spyro and Cynder descended down the staircase, trying in vain to keep up with Terrador. Cynder nodded her head groggily.

"Is it really so important that you had to wake us up in the middle of the night to show us? Can't this wait?"

Terrador shook his head. "No, this cannot wait. It's too important. But before I show you, I need you to answer one question." He stopped walking, and so did the two young dragons.

Spyro and Cynder tried to remain as apprehensive as possible, but it was hard on them, considering they had been woken up in the middle of the night despite being already exhausted from the long journey back. Terrador took another step closer to them. Both listened in.

"Are you positive that Malefor is dead?"

Spyro and Cynder nearly scoffed at the question. What sort of joke was this? Cynder voiced her mind to Terrador, clearly annoyed.

"Yes, he's dead!" yelled Cynder, infuriated. "Spyro and I made sure of it! That's what you lugged us down here in the middle of the night for?" she scowled.

Spyro butted in. "We saw him die! He was sucked into the planets core by my very own ancestors!" he added, also angry. He could not believe the guardians did not trust him and Cynder enough to believe that they had defeated Malefor. His eyebrows bent down into an irritated expression. Cynder's did likewise.

Terrador turned around, and walked to the door, looking outside. He beckoned them to follow.

"Come. You need to see this. I cannot explain it. Perhaps you can?"

Spyro was the first to follow Terrador to the door. Cynder followed. Terrador stepped to the side, revealing what Volteer had seen earlier.

"Perhaps you could explain this."

As Terrador stepped to the side, Spyro saw. His jaw fell open, and his eyes grew wide with disbelief. All feelings of irritation were completely forgotten. As Cynder rounded Terrador, her eyes became riveted to the scene. Both could not believe their eyes.

In front of them, the wall of fire continued to grow. The flames licked at the air, and they grew higher and higher, becoming more impenetrable with every passing second. The fire lit up the night sky, and nearly blotted out the moon. The infamous ring of fire had returned. The volcano, which had long ceased its activity ever since Malefor's defeat, was now erupting again, showering the regions below with a thick blanket of smoke, ash, and worst of all, magma. Spyro heard Cynder give an intake of breath. He was shocked as well.

"But… that's impossible." said Spyro shakily. "We, but he… He died! I saw him die! We, He can't be, he…"

Terrador shook his head soundly. "I'm sorry, Spyro, but the only explanation for this revival of the ring of fire can mean only one thing: Malefor is somehow still alive. There is just no other explanation!"

But Spyro would not hear it. "We saw him die, there's no way he survived! Right Cynder! We…"

Cynder was not listening. Tears were running freely down her cheeks. Ever since the day she had told Spyro she loved him, things had never been the same. When he had proposed, everything had seemed so certain to her. And now, with this newfound information, she felt nothing was certain, not even her and Spyro. All that work, all of that time, simply wasted. She could not bear to think that. Involuntarily, she started to cry softly, tears falling down her cheeks. Life itself seemed hopeless.

Spyro wanted to comfort her, but his nightmare kept invading his mind. The ring of fire rising in front of him. The flashing jaws. The darkness. Cynder melting away. If this had come true, what of his dream? Would the rest become reality as well?

Spyro began to shake uncontrollably, the icy coldness of fear gripping his heart like a vise. The nightmare invaded his mind, the horrific detail of everything he saw, it was coming true.

'This can't be true… This can't be…"

However, Spyro could see the wall of fire in front of him. It was true, whether he and Cynder liked it or not. He shouted at Terrador, a look of terror plastered on his face.

"Just leave us alone for a minute!" he shouted. Terrador nodded his head in acknowledgement, glad that he didn't have to see the two young dragons like this anymore. He turned around and left, without another word. Spyro shook his head wildly, once again thinking to himself.

"Come on, Spyro! Cynder needs you! Are you going to wallow in self pity and fear, or are you going to help somebody in need? Be a purple dragon, Spyro, not an infant babe afraid of the dark!"

With this self reprimand, Spyro snapped out of his fearful state. He turned to see Cynder, still crying, looking at him sadly. Spyro, still trying to shake to cold grip of fear from his own mind, began to try and comfort Cynder.

"Cynder? Are you alright?"

Cynder felt another tear trickle down her cheek. "No, Spyro, I'm not alright. Everything we did to stop Malefor, everything we lost, everything we fought for, it's all been for nothing, Spyro! Malefor somehow has come back from the dead! Why else has the ring of fire grown back? Why else would the volcano have come back from dormancy again, Spyro? Somehow, unknown to us, Malefor has returned from the dead! Everything we did was for nothing, Spyro!"

"Nonsense!" Spyro shouted. "Our love was not for nothing! Doesn't that matter to you? Have you forgotten what we've been through? Have you already forgotten? Was our love for nothing, because if it was, then and only then would our journey have been useless! If our love is for nothing, than it's your choice for it to be that way, Cynder. I love you. Not even this will change that. Don't you love me, Cynder?" his voice became gentler as he progressed.

Cynder felt another tear course down her cheek, only this time, it was of shame. She hadn't thought of the situation that way, mainly because she was too focused on herself and caught up in her emotions to think of Spyros' own feelings. She looked down to the ground, ashamed of herself.

"Yes, Spyro. I do love you. With all of my heart." She began to answer. "I am sorry that I made it seem like I don't. Our journey was not useless. It has brought us together. I assure you, this will not change that." Her gaze shifted from Spyro to the ring of fire as she spoke. "I'm very sorry."

Spyro walked closer to Cynder, and kissed her maw tenderly. She kissed him back, glad to not have hurt him. Spyro broke, and then placed his head next to hers.

"Together, we will overcome this newfound evil, Cynder. Whether it be Malefor, or anybody else, we will overcome it. I swear it!"

Cynder reared her head back to face Spyros'. Her loving gaze pierced his.

"How, Spyro? How?"

Spyro thought about this, long and hard. He shook his head.

"I don't know, Cynder. I don't know."

Authors note: I apologize for the rushed feeling of my last two chapters. I could have done better on them, but I was in a hurry to get them done instead of done right. I tried harder on this chapter, and I hope you like it! Please, Review! Let me know what I can improve on!